“Jacques Brel” was a highlight of this past weekend’s jaunt, north over the Canadian border, by two vans of folks from the Muskegon area.

It was right up there with the Bombay Fries -- French-fried potatoes slathered in a curry sauce -- that the revelers downed with pints of Carlsberg beer at Molly Bloom’s Irish Pub, while watching England and Algeria battle to a scoreless tie in the World Cup championships of -- don’t call it soccer.

Almost as captivating was a late Shakespeare masterpiece that won’t officially open till this coming Friday, June 25: “The Tempest,” starring an actor’s actor, Christopher Plummer, in the monumental role of Prospero.

Not to be discounted is “As You Like It,” in which the forest of Arden transforms, by the magic of tech wizardry that God would have used if he’d had the money, into a glen carpeted with giant butterflies.

Carver also appears, as Jacques, the lone character left to himself, in an “As You Like It” that will be always be remembered as The Big Green Apple Play.

That’s one big honkin’ piece o’ fruit.

Much of the show’s imagery, flown down from the ceiling, is inspired by artworks of surrealists Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte.

How else to explain descending cubes each dominated by a huge eyeball, in production updated to what appears in part to be fascist Europe, in which the baddest of the bad guys recalls the sadistic concentration camp commandant in the film “Schindler’s List.”

All eyes, of course, are focused on Plummer, the face of the 2010 festival.

Plummer is Stratford’s poster boy this season, for taking on a gigantic role in a show that is, because of production values, considerably longer than the play Shakespeare wrote.

Still in rehearsal and preview performances, “The Tempest” was designed as a star vehicle, which it is.

But what many people who see this “Tempest” rage will not be able to forget is a petite scene stealer named Julyana Soelistyo.

A vision in blue and sporting a Mohawk ‘do, the diminutive Soelistyo enchants as Ariel, a airy sprite who does the sorcerer Prospero’s bidding.

As directed by a living legend, Des McAnuff, this Ariel is airborne, popping out of trunks and elsewhere, and at one point swooping in for retribution on the wingspan of a giant predator.

In his third season as Stratford’s artistic director, McAnuff avails himself of high-tech excess in both “The Tempest” and “As You Like It.” The effect is stunning to both the eye and ear, if somewhat overwhelming.

Pared down to its essence, by director Stafford Arima, is “Jacques Brel,” a show that will keep audiences shooting to their feet all summer, in standing ovations tas justified as they will be spontaneous.

Even if it had nothing else going for it, “Jacques Brel” will go down as the show that helped catapult Jewelle Blackman to stardom, and not just on the strength of her show-stopping solo, “Carousel.”